31 May 2010

Really sensitive animals detect even the dim red glow or barely
human audible click of the IR filter in these Scoutguard SG500
self-contained day/night cameras. We set them to take 3
successive stills 1 or 2 seconds apart, and this is the third of
a set of three as the fox was
1: oblivious, 2: turned, and 3: glared!

Ref: SG2_20100429_0102_033_SC2 Fox in IR threatening camera.jpg

At another camera we see a Roe deer for only the second time
(see also 12 May 2010) identified for us by the guy who
sold us our second camera at specialist site http://www.digitalwildcams.co.uk

Ref: SG1_20100429_0242_010_SC1 Roe Deer in IR.jpg

30 May 2010

This might be a 'common' bee-fly (one of 12 or 15 species
according to which book you look in but neither has any detail)
now seen here in Spring for the last 3 years. This year we got
the 'Flight Tunnel' out of its winter hibernation early and made
this one one of the subjects.

28 May 2010

A nicely groomed badger with unusually good view of the top and
bottom of a badger's front feet in a single moment.

Ref: D3A_20100424_0410_080_FB2 Badger with views of top and bottom of front paws (crop).jpg

27 May 2010

A few buzzards identified a thermal that included these 2 not so
immediately identified birds climbing with them. Turns out they
were a 'pair' of Merlins. The female on the left is said to be
bigger than the male on the right, but they were also climbing in
the thermal and taken about 1 minute apart, so don't take the
relative sizes literally.

Journalists love finding 'unfortunate' pictures of 'notables' caught
in awkward poses. Well this heron walking to our left with one
leg in the air, looking our way & decorated with daffodils shows
you can make even this hunter look a bit daft!

25 May 2010

The tits, chaffinches and goldfinches are making merry with the
buds and flowers. Here a Bluetit is feeding from the front of a
cherry flower with a yellow pollen stain on the feathers to prove it.
We are also finding the bitten off flowers previous seen as a
result of Great tit activity. Do we have something interesting
here - Bluetits feed in the top of the flowers and Great tits
bite off the undeveloped fruit base?
For the great tit images see images for 21 May 2008.

24 May 2010

We can't even begin to imagine where this mouse is coming from or going
to - there isn't even discernable movement blur to help !
Its right at the left edge of the frame with the log just to the right.
The shadow at bottom right belongs to the mouse.

23 May 2010

A pair of Robins are nest building in a miniature conifer very
close to the house. We wouldn't be able to get nearer the nest
without disturbing them, but can view their comings and goings
obliquely through a window. Here is an accurate montage of some
nesting material being delivered.

22 May 2010

Standing in the garden with some visitors this robin came for an
offering of corn but it spotted a huge worm and couldn't resist
this much more exciting prospect. It proceeded to bite the worm
in two. The front half exited at speed, but the back half was
neatly snipped into at least two pieces by the robin and promptly
swallowed. And all while all 4 of us stood perhaps 2 metres away
dumbfounded.

Ref: DF1_20100417_1056_064 Robin eating tail end of large worm in two halves 11 of 18 (crop).jpg

21 May 2010

Roy's favourite butterfly put in the first appearance of the year
on what here is it's favourite flower - the Cuckoo flower, also
called Lady's Smock (Cuckoo Flower)

Ref: D3B_20100417_0721_037_FB3 3 Tree sparrows with one stepping or standing on another.jpg

18 May 2010

Mother mallard duck and her 11 ducklings (1 of which was the
traditional tail-end charlie nearly always out of shot) visited 3
of the ponds in one day before vanishing - the moorhens attempt
and usually succeed in chasing duck families away.

17 May 2010

Thursday 15 Apr 2010 afternoon & the whole weekend were weirdly clear
without a trace of the usual plethora of contrails following the banning
of commercial airline flights in parts of Europe when a volcano
in Iceland started throwing ash into the higher atmosphere.
The total lack of cloud will have contributed to an atypically low
temperature of -1C early Saturday with a ground frost.
Here is a closed up and limp dandelion 'nicely' frosted

13 May 2010

A little portrait and a mystery solved.
In the entry for 17 May 2009 (image taken 23 Apr 2009) we reported
on a long-tailed tit defending his territory from his reflection
in the window. He is at it again this year but now we know he has
a nest in the hedge right outside. Maybe it is there year after
year?

Ref: DF1_20100411_0638_008 Long-tailed tit looking at his reflection in the window.jpg

And here a grabbed shot of the nest with the entrance hole on the
opposite side to the window. The sphere of soft mossy materials
is about 10cm diameter so the bird must curl into a ball to fit
inside. You can just see a feather of the bird inside which was
not disturbed by this momentary stop along the path.

12 May 2010

A late identification of this as a Roe deer in Infra-red light
confirms this as our first siting of this species. Previously the
only deer where the minute Muntjc deer. This is the third of
3 images taken over a few seconds - the dim red light of the IR
illuminator seems to have attracted the attention of the deer
which is now staring at the camera.

11 May 2010

The herons are still going after the newts and several make occasional
visits over our patch, but do a flyover if we are already outside.
Always trying for that unusual image, this flyover produced an
unusual shadow of the heron's head on its own under-wing, complete
with light spot when the sun is shining through the nostril holes in the beak
(no fiddling - genuine single frame just exposure corrected & cropped).

Ref: DF1_20100402_1631_202 Heron in flight with beak and nostril shadow on wing (crop).jpg

10 May 2010

Fieldmouse (Wood Mouse) and Field Vole in similar position just 8 minutes apart.
Note the very different lengths of the tails.

09 May 2010

We never see swans in our patch (not safe for takeoff) but in the
last couple of days a couple have been feeding on the sprouting
'whatever' in an arable field to our north undoubtedly to the
farmer's annoyance. Here we caught their arrival 'on the wing'
though this time they landed out of our sight.

Ref: DF1_20100403_1046_069 2 Mute Swans in flight over fields to North 11 of 46 (crop).jpg

08 May 2010

We had always thought this shiny ceramic top of the large peanut feeder
would not attract a bird of any size - corvids don't land on it.
Checking the CCTV camera we found it had landed on the feeder,
stayed 4 minutes and then flew off and did so again a few days later.

05 May 2010

04 May 2010

We have no idea how many Newts we have in this pond, but it must
be hundreds to stand the annual predation by herons. In 6 minutes
this one heron took at least 3 and we don't know how long he had
been there before we noticed it. It worked along the back edge
right to left as viewed here dispatching newts with obvious
skill.

03 May 2010

02 May 2010

3 Little tree sparrows queuing in an orderly fashion for the nut
feeder. The one on the left is just taking off towards the food.
These are NOT the ordinary (but declining) house sparrow but
the rarer tree sparrow with dark patch on the cheek. To our
delight they breed freely here undoubtedly helped by the
accessible peanuts food supplement.

Ref: D3B_20100401_1644_026_FB3 3 Tree sparrows.jpg

01 May 2010

A woodland shot of a mature heron quietly waiting for a meal
to appear, as to opposed to actively hunting.
He didn't catch anything this time then wandered back into the shade.